Vengeance (2006)
Vengeance (2006) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), which took place on June 25, 2006, at the Charlotte Bobcats Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was the sixth annual Vengeance event. Eight professional wrestling matches were featured on the event's card. The buildup to the matches and the scenarios that took place before, during, and after the event were planned by WWE's script writers. The event starred wrestlers from the Raw brand: a storyline expansion of the promotion where employees are assigned to a wrestling brand under the WWE banner. The card featured eight televised matches, including two main events which resulted in Rob Van Dam defeating Edge to retain the WWE Championship and D-Generation X (DX) (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) defeating Spirit Squad (Kenny, Johnny, Mitch, Nicky, and Mikey) in a 5-on-2 Handicap match. One bout was featured on the undercard, in which John Cena defeated Sabu in an Extreme Rules lumberjack match, which featured superstars from the Raw and ECW brands at ringside. Vengeance grossed over US$400,000 in ticket sales from an attendance of 6,800 and received 320,000 pay-per-view buys, which helped WWE increase its pay-per-view revenue by $21.6 million compared to the previous year. When the event was released on DVD, it reached the number one position on Billboard's DVD Sales Chart. The professional wrestling section of the Canadian Online Explorer website rated the entire event a 6.5 out 10 stars, higher than the 2005 event rating of 6 out 10. Storylines The event featured eight professional wrestling matches with different wrestlers involved in pre-existing scripted feuds, plots and storylines. Wrestlers were portrayed as either villains or fan favorites as they followed a series of tension-building events, which culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. All wrestlers belonged to the Raw brand – a storyline division in which WWE assigned its employees to a different program, the other two being SmackDown! and ECW. The main rivalry heading into Vengeance was between WWE Champion and ECW World Champion Rob Van Dam who was defending the WWE Championship against Edge in a singles match. The buildup to the match began on the television premiere of ECW on Sci-Fi, in which Van Dam was awarded the ECW World Heavyweight Championship (which later become simply known as ECW World Championship) by Paul Heyman, thus making Van Dam a double champion, by holding both the ECW and WWE Championships. Van Dam's celebration was then interrupted by Edge and his girlfriend Lita. Edge, who was the number one contender for the title, informed Van Dam that they both had a lot in common, referring to them being both Money in the Bank winners and successfully becoming WWE Champions. Edge concluded with giving Van Dam some kind words, in which afterwards he performed a Spear on Van Dam. On the June 19 episode of Raw, in retaliation Van Dam attacked Edge, moments after winning a match against Ric Flair. On June 20 episode of ECW, Rob Van Dam and Kurt Angle defeated Edge and Randy Orton in a tag team match when Van Dam pinned Edge after a Five Star Frog Splash. Another predominant rivalry scripted into Vengeance was between D-Generation X (DX) Triple H and Shawn Michaels versus the Spirit Squad (Kenny, Johnny, Mitch, Nicky, and Mikey) in a 5-on-2 Handicap match consisting of one team of wrestlers facing off against a team of wrestlers with numerical superiority such as five against two. The buildup to the match began after Backlash, Raw's previous pay-per-view event, where The McMahons (Vince and Shane) defeated Michaels and "God" in a tag team match, with help from the Spirit Squad in a no disqualification match, a match where neither wrestler can be disqualified, allowing for weapons and outside interference. Throughout the weeks on Raw, Michaels got revenge on both Vince McMahon and the Spirit Squad, until the May 22 episode of Raw, where the Spirit Squad were scripted to injure Michaels' left knee. Then, by orders of McMahon, Triple H was to "break Michaels' skull", with a sledgehammer. Triple H failed to do what McMahon ordered and instead attacked the Spirit Squad, thus turning into a fan favorite. Two weeks later, McMahon booked Triple H in a gauntlet match, consisting of two wrestlers beginning the match, and replacing whenever one is eliminated, with the last person standing being named the winner, against the Spirit Squad. In the match, Kenny grabbed a steel chair and inserted the chair on Triple H's left knee, similar to what the group did to Michaels. Mitch, who was the only member not participating in the match, was thrown out from the backstage curtain by Michaels. Following this, he joined Triple H in the ring as they began to beat down the four members of the group. This saw Michaels and Triple H reform D-Generation X since their teased reunion in 2002. That same night, McMahon scheduled the Spirit Squad and D-Generation X in a 5-on-2 handicap tag team match. On the June 19 episode of Raw, DX marked their return, when the duo humiliated the Spirit Squad as DX dumped green slime onto the group and embarrassed the team afterwards, by beating them. One of the featured matches was between John Cena versus Sabu in an Extreme Rules lumberjack match, a standard match with the exception that the ring is surrounded by a group of wrestlers not directly involved in it and competed under hardcore rules. On the television debut of ECW on Sci Fi on June 13, a brawl broke out between Rob Van Dam and Edge. Edge, who stormed through the ECW crowd, was attacked by Cena, who cost Cena the WWE Championship at ECW's One Night Stand, and written into the storyline, sought revenge against Edge. Following the attack, Cena went to ringside where he knocked ECW Representative Paul Heyman unconscious, after Heyman awarded the pinfall win to Van Dam at One Night Stand. Following the attack, Heyman announced that all ECW superstars would be at Raw the following week. The following week on Raw, Heyman appeared alongside ECW superstar, Balls Mahoney, who was booked to face Cena in a singles match. The match was won by Cena after he made Mahoney submit. After the match, Cena was attacked by ECW superstar Sabu, who, on the premiere of ECW on Sci Fi, won a 10-man Extreme Battle Royal, a multi-competitor match type in which wrestlers are eliminated until one is left and declared winner, where the winner would face Cena at Vengeance in a singles match. Sabu assaulted Cena in which he performed a leg drop on Cena, diving onto him and putting Cena through the Raw announcers' table. The following night on an episode of ECW on Sci Fi, Cena showed up in the ECW locker room, where he challenged Sabu to an Extreme Rules lumberjack match, for which Sabu accepted. Aftermath On the July 3 episode of Raw, a triple threat match was booked between Rob Van Dam, Edge, and John Cena for the WWE title, after Van Dam made the stipulation. Edge, as part of scripted events, defeated both Van Dam and Cena to become the new WWE champion, after pinning Van Dam. The following night on ECW on Sci Fi, Van Dam lost the ECW title to The Big Show, after the Big Show received assistance from Paul Heyman, who declined to make the three-count for Van Dam, but instead gave the pinfall to the Big Show. Later on WWE's official website, it was announced that Heyman suspended Van Dam for 30 days without giving a reason. This angle was written after WWE suspended Van Dam for his recent drug possession arrest. The following month at Saturday Night's Main Event, a title match was scheduled between Edge and Cena. Cena won the match by disqualification, after Lita interfered on behalf of Edge. A singles match was booked between Edge and Cena for the WWE title at Summerslam, with the stipulation that if Edge disqualified himself, he would have lost the WWE title. At SummerSlam, Edge retained the title after he hit Cena with a pair of brass knuckles, this occurred when the referee was not looking. In a July episode of Saturday Night's Main Event, DX defeated the Spirit Squad in a 5-on-2 Elimination match. The McMahons (Vince and Shane) continued their feud with DX, as they became frustrated with DX's antics. McMahon scheduled a tag team match, where he would team up with Shane to take on DX at SummerSlam in August. Before the match got underway at SummerSlam, the Spirit Squad, Mr. Kennedy, William Regal, Finlay, and The Big Show all interfered on behalf of the McMahons. DX, however, won the match. Results Other on-screen personnel See also * List of WWE pay-per-view events * Vengeance Category:Vengeance Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events Category:2006 Pay-Per-View Events